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Justice. Only Justice Shall Thou Pursue

Monday, May 22, 2006

The Cooler King

I know where I keep my money, and it isn't in the freezer, wrapped in tin foil. Yet, that's where Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) kept $90,000 stashed. Investigators found that money in the course of their searches of Jefferson's home and offices.

Sounds like Jefferson might soon come to appreciate a different kind of cooler - prison.

James Joyner is wondering why the FBI isn't arresting Jefferson, to wit the Florida Masochist replied that they're waiting for the money to defrost.

Right Voices notices that this is what a culture of corruption looks like.

Corruption takes many forms - and cuts across party lines. No one should stand for this kind of behavior and if Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat leadership had any spine, they'd call out Jefferson and have him account for his actions.

Drudge notes that while there are some House officials who are annoyed with the FBI investigation of Jefferson's offices at the Rayburn House Office Building, the FBI is continuing to aggressively search for evidence in connection to their growing investigation into Jefferson's actions:

At this time, Jefferson is being investigated for bribery, wire fraud, bribery of a foreign official and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the search warrant.

But the Justice Department and FBI agents are also looking at “least seven other schemes in which Congressman Jefferson sought things of value” in return for official acts, the affidavit states.

That suggests that additional avenues for prosecuting Jefferson could be revealed soon. The FBI has two confidential witnesses who are offering testimony against Jefferson, as well as undercover audio and video tapes of him allegedly asking for and receiving bribes worth potentially millions of dollars in exchange for his help in putting together African telecommunications deals for U.S. firms, according to the affidavit.

This is only a guess, but another avenue of investigation will be the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which Jefferson chaired. He was at the helm in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit, and there were serious questions over the speed at which the Caucus disbursed monies gathered in donations and to whom the money was disbursed.

Meanwhile, Point Five notes that Democrats may be abandoning their culture of corruption mantra - if only to save the indigenous culture of Louisiana from assimilation.

UPDATE:Jefferson held a press conference this afternoon and denied any wrongdoing. Expose the Left has the video. He also refused to answer any questions. We'll see how long that stonewalling lasts as the government prepares their case against him. Anyone want to figure out a good excuse for why anyone would keep $90,000 in a freezer? Anyone? Bueller?

I Hate It Here questions the media coverage - wondering why there was wall to wall coverage on Tom DeLay and that the media is snoozing along on Jefferson despite the fact that there are video tapes of wrongdoing and the FBI found $90,000 stashed in Jefferson's freezer. Well, one reason is that Jefferson wasn't nearly as high profile as DeLay. News From the Web notes that Jefferson is taking to attacking the FBI's search of his home and offices.